all sides of the museum is property of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, of the City of Los Angeles. Photographs and docents show and explain that the Valley included large tracts of agricultural land; from the Paiute Native American era, through pioneer days, to the Aqueduct 'water wars era' that began diversions of water in the early 20th century to Los Angeles. A tour docent, sharing a vintage black-and-white photograph, explained "This is a picture of my mom's apple orchard." Mining displays The museum also houses an extensive collection of old and reconstructed mining equipment. Recently, museum volunteers recreated a primitive human- or animal-powered ore-crusher called an arrastra: A new arrastra was built out of native materials, in this case an elm tree and hardware such as chains found in the museum's bone yard. An arrastra is a basic mine milling machine used to pulverize rock. A sweep arm – the elm log – is rotated and drags heavy stones over pieces of ore-rich rock to be pulverized. After many rotations, the rock breaks apart and the ore is exposed. It's heavy labor that was done by a beast of burden before mechanization. Government In the California State Legislature, Laws is in , and . In the United States House of Representatives, Laws is in . See also Desert railroads Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad Carson and Colorado Railway Death Valley Railroad Borate and Daggett Railroad Waterloo Mining Railroad Calico and Odessa Railroad Trona Railway List of defunct California railroads List of defunct Nevada railroads Locale Bishop, California California Water Wars Cadillac Desert Fish Slough Area of Critical Environmental Concern Category: Geography of Inyo County, California Inyo National Forest Manzanar Owens River References Sources Map: "Laws, California 7.5-minute Quadrangle," U.S. Geological Survey, 1994. Map: "Guide to Eastern Sierra, #2463" Automobile Club of Southern California, 1996. Map: "Inyo National Forest," U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Geometronics Service Center, 1989. U.S. Geological Survey, National Geographic Names Database. External links Laws Railroad Museum and Historic Site official website Museums in Inyo County, California Open-air museums in California Railroad museums in California Owens Valley Unincorporated communities in Inyo County, California Populated places in the Mojave Desert Bishop, California California Historical Landmarks History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Unincorporated communities in California